Finding My Rainbow
by Nijiiro
Summary: My first non-original work. Eeee. Moonstone is banished from the Rainbow Herd, and the pegasi, earthlings and unicorns are at war. Can he put an end to it all? I don't own My Little Pony, but I own Victory. So nyah. :P
1. Failure

Prologue: Failure  
  
Run.  
His instincts told him to run as fast as his legs would carry him. Run, get away, leave this place now.  
But the unicorn stallion couldn't run. His mind was screaming a thousand thoughts, but his body was frozen. He instead stared numbly at the familiar scene before him.  
"You've failed again."  
That voice, that tone. Every word of it was familiar, etched into his memory.  
"But this time, you won't get another chance."  
Make it stop, he willed, End it now. Before he says it. Please.  
"You are banished, Moonstone."  
At that moment, his body unfroze. He reared, his horn slashing the air wildly as he let out a single scream.  
Then Moonstone woke up. 


	2. Anew

Chapter 1: Anew  
  
At first, Moonstone thought he was back home in Rainbow Palace. He simply lay there with his eyes closed, awaiting the faint sounds of the lesser rainbow ponies' bickering, Skydancer's futile attempts at regaining order, Sunlight's cheeky giggle, then the sound of Windy's voice as she coaxed him out of bed.  
But there was nothing but silence. He opened his eyes, the panic and fear from yesterday returning with a vengeance. This wasn't home.this was a dried-up plain! Why was he here?  
Then he remembered. He could never go home. He had been banished. His stomach twisted into a knot of anxiety. That meant Starflower would be casting the memory spell soon.he may have been a lesser rainbow, but he was still powerful. His mind raced through thoughts, desperately trying to memorize the faces of his friends. Parasol's lethargic smirk, Starshine's bold face, Windy's smile.wait. wasn't Windy the orange one? No, that was Flutterbye. .Who was Flutterbye again? He could've sworn the name sounded familiar.  
In mere minutes, the blue rainbow pony had forgotten everything.  
  
"Why's it always ME that's gotta go find Baby Surprise?" Firefly grumbled to herself as she flitted over the Seadryn Plains, "Twinkler's gotta stop believing him whenever he says he forgot his teddy bear!" Her keen eyes scanned the sea of withered yellow, contrasting with the teak- gray sky. Suddenly, she noticed something. In the middle of the dead shades of the grass was a splotch of brilliance. Something powder blue. and red, orange, yellow. The whole spectrum!  
"Now there's something you don't see every day," Firefly said to nobody in particular as she sailed down.  
Upon closer inspection, the dazzling blot was another pony. A stallion, she guessed, judging from his size. She had approached him from behind, so the pony hadn't noticed her yet, as far as she could tell. On his rump, a silver planet ringed in blue and surrounded by small moon glittered in the faint light that streamed through the oily clouds. But the most amazing of all was his hair. Both his mane and tail were the exact colour of the rainbow! Well, as far as she remembered. Finally, the pink pegasus spoke up. "Pardon me, are your wings broken?" The stallion turned, and Firefly suddenly realized the stallion had no wings. In fact, she was speaking to a unicorn. She gave a startled gasp and turned, about to bolt, when the unicorn stepped in her path. She reared, giving a startled cry. "Hey! I'm warning you, caster, you try to pull that magical mumbo-jumbo on me and I'll kick your teeth so hard, your tail will hurt!" The stallion just stared at her, magenta eyes static with confusion and a dull, inner ache. He took another step towards Firefly. The pegasus turned and ran, taking to the skies as quickly as she could. 


	3. Belonging

Chapter 2: Belonging  
  
Moonstone didn't understand.  
A pink, blue-haired pegasus with sharp, gleaming thunderbolts plastered on her hindquarters had just run away from him. Why? Did he do something wrong? He was about to run after her and ask, when she flew off. There was just no talking to some ponies.  
He stood there a minute longer, before turning and heading east. He knew Dream Valley was the easternmost city of Ponyland, and he must be in Ponyland since he'd just seen a pony.  
"Of course I'm in Ponyland. Where else would I live?" Moonstone chuckled to himself as he trotted along.  
  
"Baby Moondancer's it!" Baby Glory yelled to the scattered group of baby unicorns. Several ponies screamed in reply, running in random directions and trying to wink left and right. Baby Moondancer scrambled after Baby Glory, giggling. Glory merely dashed to the right, calling out behind her, "Moondancer's it, tuck a fit, kiss a boy and marry it!"  
"Alright, foals! It's getting dark, time for bed!" Sparkler called out to the baby ponies, who groaned collectively.  
"But I was just gonna catch Baby Glory!" Baby Moondancer whined, stifling a yawn.  
"C'mon. Maybe Fizzy will have a couple apples for you guys to enjoy as a bedtime snack," Sparkler coaxed, smiling winsomely at the foals. A few of them nodded sleepily to each other, obediently falling in step behind Sparkler. Baby Moondancer, however, still wanted to play. She dashed off into the tall grass of the Seadryn, unnoticed by the unicorns. Almost.  
"Baby Moondancer.? Baby Moondancer, get back here! Oh, ponyfeathers. Stay here, foals. I'll be right back!" Sparkler trotted into the grass, following the soft rustle of parting flora.  
The young unicorns all stared at each other for a moment, utterly silent. Finally, Baby Ribbon gleefully announced, "Baby Glory's it!"  
  
Baby Moondancer squealed with delight as she pranced through the grass. This was fun! Sparkler was finally playing tag, but she'd never catch the Tag Queen. er, Princess. "Nothin' can stop me now, Twi-Oof!" Baby Moondancer suddenly collided with a large blue hoof. and it wasn't Sparkler's.  
"Are you alright?" The stranger bent down to peer at the filly sprawled at his feet.  
Baby Moondancer's first instinct was to scream. But she quickly changed her mind when she saw the strange unicorn's mane. "Ooooh. Your mane's pretty, mister. I like!"  
"Baby Moondancer! That'd had better be one of the unicorns you're talking to!" Sparkler arrived on the scene, slightly out of breath.  
"Er. yes, I am a unicorn. Why?" The stallion blinked at Sparkler blankly.  
"Well then, who are you? I've never seen any unicorn with a mane that fancy," Sparkler eyed the blue stranger suspiciously, a note of jealousy in her voice.  
"Um, Moonstone."  
Baby Moondancer jumped in circles around Moonstone, yelling excitedly, "Wanna come live wiv' us, Moonstone? I heard Bouquet say we need more unicorns around since the trotters have got so many ponies in their herd and nobody has a mane that's pretty like yours and pleeeeease?"  
Before Sparkler could protest, Moonstone nodded. "Certainly. Lead the way, er."  
"Baby Moondancer! Hey, our named both start with moon! Isn't that neato? Baby Gusty's gonna be sooo jealous!" Baby Moondancer pranced off, followed by Moonstone.  
Sparkler walked behind, sighing. "I hate my job." 


	4. Enmity

Chapter 3: Enmity  
  
"I'm telling you, I saw a unicorn with nothing but hair streaks!" Firefly yelled over the murmur of the pegasi gathered around her, "And this weren't no Twinkle Eye, either. The casters have a one-of-a-kind pony on their side, and I'm betting he's loaded with all kinds of magic!"  
"What if he's some kind of unicorn god?" Dancing Butterflies screeched over the din.  
"A unicorn messiah!" Added Twinkler.  
"We're gonna get thrashed!" Medley shouted over Twinkler.  
"Thrashed? We're gonna get flattened!" Heart Throb shouted back.  
"We'll be annihilated!" Surprise wailed.  
"Silence! Silence!" Lofty commanded, and the noise decreased to a dull roar. "Thank you. Now, if what Firefly says is true, and a multicolored pony has joined the unicorns, then we must be on guard. True, he may be a messiah, but he may also be nothing more than a drifter with a collection of dyes. Nevertheless, we must be prepared. The pegasi will defeat the unicorns and earthlings, and emerge victorious from the war of the herds!"  
The pegasi all cheered, flapping their wings and stomping their hooves in a primal beat. "Peg-a-si! Peg-a-si!" The chant, barely audible over the stomping and flapping, soon drowned out all other noise. Lofty stood above the herd, leading the chant proudly.  
"Pegasiiii!"  
  
"We're hoooome!" Baby Moondancer's yell was echoed by the unicorn foals, which Sparkler had picked up on the way pack.  
And what a home it was. The herd lived in a small valley (Which Moonstone thought to be odd, since he was just in the plains.), with a small forest, nothing more than a clump of trees with a small clearing in the center, on one side for shelter during storms, and a pond on the opposite side shored by gravel to keep it from flooding the valley. The grass wasn't as long as that in the Seadryn, which tickled Moonstone's underbelly, but he guessed that was only because of the herd's grazing. The entire valley, though still a slight green-yellow withered shade, looked positively emerald-hued in contrast to the Seadryn.  
"It ain't much, but welcome to Spellbound Valley!" Baby Lucky Leaf announced with a flourish of her horn.  
"It doesn't technically have a name, but the foals insist on calling it that," Sparkler explained apologetically.  
"But we've been livin' here fer a whole entire year, Sparkler! An' Spellbound's a good name. 'Coz we're, like, unicorns, so we gots magic." Baby Gusty protested.  
"I like that name. Spellbound Valley." Moonstone nodded, and the foals gave a collective triumphant squeal.  
"Call it what you want, but it's bedtime for you, little ones. You've all had a busy day." Sparkler hushed the unicorns' complains, shooing them into the small ring of trees. Once they were all safely tucked away, she turned her attention to Moonstone. "Now, I suppose I'd better show you to the herd. They may know what to make of that rainbow coif of yours." She motioned for him to follow her, and trotted to the center of the valley. Once there, she raised her horn, muttering, "I wish, I wish, I wish!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, a single spark shot into the sky, vanishing for a few seconds, then resurfacing as an explosion of silver and blue.  
"Fireworks? Suppose I should've guessed that would be your magic, what with your name and all." Moonstone said with a grin.  
"It's not all I can do. I'm also starting to get the hang of using electricity. but last time I tried using lightning, I wound up setting Bouquet's tail on fire," Sparkler giggled. ".Oh! The others are finally arriving!" In a short while, the entire herd was gathered Sparkler and Moonstone, chatting amiably amongst themselves. Finally, Twinkler raised a hoof, and the crowd fell silent. "Unicorns, I know I'm not the lead mare, and therefore have no right to call you all here in an official meeting, but I felt you should all meet our newest potential member. Moonstone!" With that, she stepped aside, allowing the herd full view of the stallion in all his Technicolor glory. "Um. hi." Moonstone nodded, fidgeting despite himself. He'd always been a bit crowd-shy. "Well, would you look at that! The guy's got four mane streaks and he ain't even got Twinkle Eyes!" Fizzy giggled. "Looks quite dashing, doesn't he?" Gingerbread whispered to Masquerade, who rolled her eyes. "As dashing as a Bushwoolie," muttered Gusty. "His mane. the colors look familiar," Mimic thought aloud. "It's the exact same colors as the rainbow." Galaxy replied to Mimic, but the entire herd fell silent, craning their necks for a better look at Moonstone. The stallion stared at the ground, his cheeks flushing at all the attention. His mane was the color of the rainbow. Big deal. Didn't they see that thing every day? "Somebody should tell Majesty," Powder finally said, after a lengthy pause. "No need to. I'm already here," A white unicorn with a summer-sky blue mane strode into the center of the circle. She had an air of leadership and compassion about her, an almost tangible coating of understanding. "And from what I've seen, this unicorn could be our savior. Glory, Victory, you're the herd's generals. Come with me. I'd like to have a word with Moonstone," Her voice sudden became louder, broadcasting like a beacon across the unicorns. "For if my suspicions are true, this stallion could be the key to defeating the earthlings and pegasi!" In the wild cheering that followed, Majesty managed to pull Moonstone and two other unicorns out of the mob of ponies and towards the pond. One of the unicorns was white as Majesty, but her hair was a deep violet with a single deep blue streak in it. Her symbol was of a glittering comet. The second one, also white, had two stars, one blue and the other yellow, with a number one plastered in between the two for a symbol. Her mane was also blue, though a lighter shade than Majesty's mane, peppered with sunshine yellow. This one, Moonstone assumed, was Victory. "Now, Glory, Victory, and you too, Moonstone, listen well," Majesty began quietly, "I'm going to tell you a story." 


	5. Separation

Chapter 4: Separation  
  
"Once, many years ago, Ponyland was whole. The ponies existed peacefully as one herd, united in our homeland of Dream Valley. Those days were always sunny and blissful, for our problems were few and far between. Aside from the occasional smoozing, in fact, our worst problems were things like Munchy tying Paradise's and Bowtie's tails together!" Majesty laughed quietly at the memory, and Glory and Victory gave a sad smile. "We worshipped the rainbow that appeared in the sky every day. Now, many believe its magic was the only thing that kept the great herd together. But no matter what else it did, the rainbow was a symbol of each colour, each type of pony, all of us existing in glorious harmony.  
But that all changed the day the rainbow vanished from the sky. We lost touch with the humans, even the Hasbro-ites that made toys in our likenesses. Some of our kind was trapped on the other side of the rainbow, but luckily the Hasbro-ites have kept them safe. Skyflier, a fellow unicorn, was one of them. We have occasionally been able to contact her telepathically by pooling our magic. The last time we spoke with her, she said the Hasbro-ites couldn't make the rainbow return, so had given up on us. They were instead making a new line of toys under our name, and making us appear starved giraffes that lived in some place called Friendship Gardens. We will never see Skyflier, or the other ponies in that group, again.  
When the rainbow vanished, ripples of mistrust spread through the herd. The pegasi blamed the earthlings, who blamed us, while we blamed the unicorns. Finally, the great herd split into three smaller herds; the casters, which are unicorns, the airborne, which are pegasi, and the trotters, which are earthlings. Two of the three herds spread just outside Dream Valley's borders, to a place known simply as Servitude. We are in the east, airborne are north, and the trotters remain in Dream Valley. The herds are at war against each other, determined to destroy all pony species save their own. As former queen of Dream Valley, I became leader of the casters, but my habits are nowhere near warlike. Therefore, Glory and Victory became the head strategists and generals of the herd. Their names should hint at how good they are," Majesty gave a small smile, nodding to the pair of unicorns at her side.  
"A tragic tale, I'm sure. but what does this have to do with me?" Moonstone tilted his head, his brain feeling deflated from the long-winded tale of woe.  
"Though our foals have never seen a rainbow, and most of us have forgotten it, we used to have a legend," Glory spoke up, apparently having caught on to Majesty's idea. "About a race of ponies who lived above the rainbow. They were its children, and so had manes and tails with the same colors as it. Rainbow ponies. Six greater, and below them the younger, weaker generation, the lesser. When they came together, their already mighty powers combined to create a force nearly nothing could stop. This power could destroy, but could just as easily repair and create. So what Majesty's hinting at is. you must be a rainbow pony!" She declared breathlessly.  
"Exactly. If you could summon the other rainbow ponies, you could bring back the rainbow and therefore reunite the great herd." Majesty nodded.  
"But. I'm no rainbow pony! I've never even heard of that in my life!" Moonstone protested, ignoring a nagging feeling in the corners of his mind. "I just happen to have .er. a red mane with a blue streak that blends in nicely." He sighed, twisting his head in a vain attempt to look at his mane.  
Glory looked about to try to convince Moonstone he obvious was a rainbow pony, but a look from Majesty quickly killed the idea.  
"Very well. Then tell us at least what is required from a normal unicorn requesting to join the herd. What are your powers?" Majesty, now sounding much older and wearier, turned to leave.  
"Er, control of gravity, kind of like telekinesis. winking. and. um." He trailed off, staring at the ground.  
"Right. Welcome to the herd. Victory, be a dear and stick by Moonstone for a few days. He'll need help keeping his worshippers at bay." With that, Majesty trotted off, Glory trailing after her.  
"Worshippers? But I'm a normal unicorn!" Moonstone called in response.  
"Y'know, there's a river in the human world called the Nile." Victory finally remarked, in a dry whisper almost too quiet to hear. 


	6. Incomplete

Chapter 5: Incomplete  
  
Windy sighed. Moonstone hadn't been banished for more than three days and it already felt like years. The purple unicorn gazed moodily out the window of the rainbow palace, to the starscape highlighted by a pastel rainbow streaking across the center.  
"Hey, why the long face?" A yellow earthling with watering cans splattered across his rump walked up behind Windy, a cheeky grin glued on his face. Though he was a rainbow pony like Windy, his mane displayed colors only vaguely resembling a rainbow, and therefore marked him as a lesser rainbow.  
"I'm a pony. I was born with one, Trickles." Windy replied wryly.  
Trickles chuckled, "Good one, Windster. But seriously, what's wrong?"  
"We are incomplete," Windy sighed. "Without Moonstone, our powers have all weakened."  
"And you miss him like hay." Trickles finished.  
"And I miss him like-hey!" The unicorn snorted indignantly.  
"Look, there's an echo in here." Trickles winked cheekily.  
"Trickles?" Windy's voice dropped to a soft, musical murmur.  
"Yeah?" The earthling paused to look at the unicorn, his voice dropping as well.  
"One of these days I'm going to rip that cheeky tongue of yours out of your mouth and feed it back to you."  
"Can't I barbecue it first?" Trickles pouted.  
Windy burst out laughing.  
Flutterbye strode regally past the two, giving a theatrical sigh. "It's nice to see some ponies around here have time to waste sitting around and giggling like bullfrogs in a pillow factory!"  
Trickles puffed his cheeks out, croaked, and then gave Flutterbye's tail a tug. "Why not stop pretending to be busy and join us, then? There's always room for another tadpole or two!"  
The orange lesser yanked her tail away from Trickles, huffing pompously, "I guess this proves me right-I am the only mature one in this nuthouse! Now go crawl back under the lilypad you were born under, tad- foal." She hissed scathingly, gave her head a dramatic toss, and fluttered from the room indignantly.  
"Whoa. who peed in her oats?" Trickles raised an eyebrow, earning another laugh from Windy.  
"That would be you, Trickles."  
"Oh. right." The lesser chortled.  
Further conversation was interrupted by a light yellow pegasus trotting in. "Very comical, I'm sure, but you two are late for dinner. Prince Starshine has something important to discuss, so you may not want to miss it."  
"Hold your water, Skydancer, we're coming. Wouldn't wanna miss one of Starshine's amazing six-hour lectures, would we Windy?" Trickles strode past the strict-looking greater, prancing towards the dining hall.  
Windy giggled again, all thoughts of the missing greater temporarily banished. "That would be a fate worse than death. Coming, Sky?"  
Skydancer nodded rigidly, glaring down his nose at Trickles' retreating form, "Lessers these days, just no respect for the rules." 


	7. Adjusting

((This chapter's a short one, I know. Shame on me. I don't own My Little Pony, I know. Shame on me.))  
  
Chapter 6: Adjusting  
  
The next day, Moonstone awoke feeling refreshed. He got up, stretched, and strolled over to the pond. He bent down to take a drink, but a sudden shove from behind sent him head-over-hooves into the pond. Luckily, it was only up to his neck. Moonstone wheeled around clumsily to face his attacker, only to see a blue unicorn laughing his head off.  
"Man, you shoulda seen the look on your face! That was priceless!" the stranger managed between giggles.  
Moonstone paused briefly to wonder how someone behind him could have seen the look on his face, then snorted, "Yeah. Riotous. Who do you think you are, anyhow?"  
The other unicorn shrugged, "Name's Sunbeam. Who're you?" He smiled innocently, his face maintaining a boyish, optimistic look at all times.  
For a moment, Moonstone got a nagging feeling in the back of his head. Young, innocent. blue. Sun. Sun something or other. He peered closely at the unicorn in front of him. "You look familiar, Sunbeam. Have we met before?"  
"Um, I can't really say unless if you tell me your name. Though the hair doesn't look too familiar." Sunbeam shrugged again.  
"Right, sorry. I'm Moonstone. I'm, ah, new here."  
"Waitwaitwait! So you're the guy who came yesterday! The whole herd's been talking about you! Are you really a rainbow pony? That's so AWESOME! I've heard all about rainbow ponies, y'know. Are they all unicorns? I hope so, 'cause rainbow trotters and airborne would just plain suck and. and." Sunbeam pranced in a circle, blabbering away animatedly.  
"Calm down, kiddo! I dunno what you mean about rainbow ponies. I'm blue. And my hair's. just. colorful." He trailed off lamely.  
"Ah, gotcha. Colorful. Don't want the mares swarming around and giving you cooties. I get it." Sunbeam winked, grinning, "Whatever you say, old buddy old pal!"  
Moonstone sighed with a hint of a resigned grin, "Got me there. Wanna show me around a bit before my little bodyguard wakes up?"  
"You betcha! You already know the foals, right? I really like the foals. The foals are awesome." Sunbeam pranced off, Moonstone walking behind.  
Neither of them noticed the lavender sea pony peeking out from behind the reeds. "Yes, Starburst will want to hear of this." With a splash of her elegant fins, the sea pony vanished under the water.  
  
"Ah, Sealight. You're back." The yellow earthling who had moment earlier been pacing anxiously past Dream Castle's moat (which had been connect to the river years ago for the sake of sea ponies) nodded to the lavender head peeking up.  
"As you have commanded our empress, we hear and obey you, queen, yesss. I have spied upon the casters as you wished, queen. There is a new one in their midst, a Moonstone, yess. Hair like what you once called the rainbow, but claims not to be a rainbow pony, yes. My queen may do well to beware this stranger, he reeks of power, he does." Sealight hissed, bobbing slowly in place.  
"Thank you, Sealight. Report to Empress Sea Breeze now, will you?" Princess Starburst nodded absently to the sea pony, who nodded back before submerging. "Now this. this changes everything." The last surviving princess pony muttered to herself, trotting briskly into Dream Castle.  
"Good morning, Queen Starburst. Er, something the matter?" A lavender earthling with eyes that shone like rubies greeted Starburst almost immediately.  
"Yes, Sky Rocket. Tell me, who is the fastest pony in the herd?"  
"Hm, I'd say either Creamsicle, what with those big, long legs and all, or maybe Night Glider. Why?" Sky Rocket replied, tilting her head slightly.  
"Get them both. Now." Starburst brushed the question off easily, walking briskly into the throne room. "I have a mission for them." 


End file.
